Sounds as if there’s a lot of work to do to bring life to the derelict Pillsbury site
Here are some of the ideas proposed last week for the old Pillsbury Mill site: fancy apartments, an agricultural museum, a biodiesel plant, a casino, a movie theater, a biotechnology-research center, a skate park, a clinic, an amphitheater, a microbrewery, a storage area, a grocery store, and a vocational-training center. A Methodist minister tossed in the idea of building a church; a Springfield cop suggested a strip club. Working in small groups, participants in a planning process known as a charrette kicked around ideas and discussed the challenges of transforming the derelict industrial property on the east side of town into . . . whatever they want.
The consensus?
Whatever becomes of the site, the land should be mixed-use, create jobs, and, perhaps to the dismay of the good reverend, increase the city’s tax base, all while using “green” design principles. As these stakeholders discussed design principles and the possibility of tax-increment financing, neighborhood residents Roy and Robert (they would not give last names), held a brainstorming session of their own, separate from the charrette. The pair said they had heard about the redevelopment plan on the radio but didn’t know about the meeting at Lanphier High School on Friday. However, the men offered Illinois Times their opinions of some of the ideas offered at the meeting.